Ohio Priest Convicted of Abuse Wants Acquittal

Charleston Gazette
October 4, 2013

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201310040162

CINCINNATI -- An Ohio priest found guilty of taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex is asking a federal judge to throw out the verdict or give him a new trial.

In a court filing Friday, attorneys for Robert Poandl argue that the jury verdict on Sept. 20 was the result of "passion and emotion" and that no rational trier of fact would have found the priest guilty.

Prosecutors told jurors that Poandl took the boy to Spencer, in Roane County, in August 1991 and raped him while visiting a church there.

Poandl's attorneys argued at trial and in Friday's court document that the allegations are false and that the boy wasn't even on the trip.

No sentencing date has been set for Poandl, from the suburban Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners.